spine
See also spiné
English
Etymology
From Old French espine (modern French épine) or its source, Latin spīna.
Pronunciation
Noun
spine (plural spines)
- A person or thing's backbone; the series of bones collectively from one's (literal or figurative) head to tail or pelvis.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 80,
- If you attentively regard almost any quadruped's spine, you will be struck with the resemblance of its vertebrae to a strung necklace of dwarfed skulls.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 80,
- A rigid, pointed surface protuberance or needle-like structure on an animal, shell, or plant.
- 1871, Charles Darwin, Descent of Man, Chapter XII,
- The male, as Dr. Gunther informs me, has a cluster of stiff, straight spines, like those of a comb, on the sides of the tail
- 1871, Charles Darwin, Descent of Man, Chapter XII,
- Courage or assertiveness.
- 2001, Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Cambridge University Press (ISBN 0-521-78512-X), page 409,
- Trademark Owners will nevertheless try to dictate how their marks are to be represented, but dictionary publishers with spine can resist such pressure.
- 2001, Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Cambridge University Press (ISBN 0-521-78512-X), page 409,
- The narrow, bound edge of a book.
- Powells Book's, rare books basics,
- Because the spine is generally all you can see when a book is on the shelf, the spine displays the title and author of the book and is often ornately decorated.
- Powells Book's, rare books basics,
Derived terms
Terms derived from spine
Translations
backbone
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rigid, pointed surface protuberance or needle-like structure on an animal, shell, or plant
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metaphor for courage or assertiveness
bound edge of a book